Vol. II, Pt. I] VAN DEXBURGH— GALAPAGOS TORTOISES 221 



and the scrambling over the rough surface and through the 

 intricate thickets was very fatiguing ; but I was well repaid by 

 the strange Cyclopean scene. As I was walking alone I met 

 two large tortoises, each of which must have weighed at least 

 two hundred pounds : one was eating a piece of cactus, and as 

 I approached, it stared at me and slowly stalked away; the 

 other gave a deep hiss, and drew in its head. These huge rep- 

 tiles, surrounded by the black lava, the leafless shrubs, and 

 large cacti, seemed to my fancy like some antediluvian animals. 

 The few dull colored birds cared no more for me than they 

 did for the great tortoises. 



"The 'Beagle' proceeded to Charles Island. This archi- 

 pelago has long been frequented, first by the buccaneers, and 

 latterly by whalers, but it is only within the last six years that 

 a small colony has been established here. The inhabitants are 

 between two and three hundred in number : they are nearly all 

 people of color, who have been banished for political crimes 

 from the Republic of the Equator, of which Quito is the capital. 

 The settlement is placed about four and a half miles inland, and 

 at a height probably of a thousand feet. In the first part of the 

 road we passed through leafless thickets, as in Chatham Island, 

 Higher up, the woods gradually became greener; and as soon 

 as we crossed the ridge of the island we were cooled by a fine 

 southerly breeze, and our sight refreshed by a green and thriv- 

 ing vegetation. In this upper region coarse grasses and ferns 

 abound ; but there are no tree-ferns : I saw nowhere any mem- 

 ber of the Palm family, which is the more singular as, 360 

 miles northward, Cocos Island takes its name from the number 

 of cocoanuts. The houses are irregularly scattered over a flat 

 space of ground, which is cultivated with sweet potatoes and 

 bananas. It will not easily be imagined how pleasant the sight 

 of black mud was to us, after having been so long accustomed 

 to the parched soil of Peru and northern Chile. The inhabi- 

 tants, although complaining of poverty, obtain, without much 

 trouble, the means of subsistance. In the woods there are 

 many wild pigs and goats ; but the staple article of animal 

 food is supplied by the tortoises. Their numbers have of 

 course been greatly reduced in this island, but the people yet 

 count on two days' hunting giving them food for the rest of 

 the week. It is said that formerly single vessels have taken 



